For thought and meditation

[rl69]

They said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." EXODUS 20:19
We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.
“You speak with us,…but let not God speak with us….” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”
Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so

[Goatwhiskers]

Amen, brother. GW

[USMC87]

Amen!

[Pine Baron]

Amen. Thanks Ronnie.

[Boaz]

Good lesson , I enjoyed it .

[Boaz]

Proverbs 2

My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,

So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;

Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,

If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.

When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,

To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,

From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;

Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;

Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;

To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,

Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.

For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;

None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—

So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.

For the upright will dwell in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;

But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.